


Interitus

by draculard



Category: The Colour Out of Space - H. P. Lovecraft
Genre: Alien Invasion, Body Horror, Denial, Ficlet, Gen, Poisoning, sores
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23137315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draculard/pseuds/draculard
Summary: The well-water tastes fine.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Interitus

The well-water tastes fine.

Zenas and Thaddeus gather it in buckets, and it’s fine for drinking. Perhaps it tastes a little metallic, but in truth, no well in Massachusetts tastes entirely pure. It doesn’t taste fetid, like the crops they harvested earlier this year. It doesn’t taste rotten, like the fruits in the ruined orchard.

~~She’s seen the way guests grimace when they drink it. There’s something in here that she can’t taste.~~

She gives Merwin his bath in the little wooden tub near the hearth; he plays in it the same way he played before things changed. He splashes water on the floor; he gathers it in his mouth, puffs his cheeks, spouts it back into the tub. 

If she notices an odd glimmer where the water hits the floor — an iridescent gleam, an unnatural, lingering glow — it must be a symptom of hysteria. The stress of the situation is impacting her nerves, Nahum says; the same would happen to any farmer’s wife when the fields start to fail.

~~She’s seen the way Nahum stares out the window, watching the trees sway without wind. He doesn’t blink for hours.~~

There are sores lining her gums. When Thad smiles at her, she sees white spots above his teeth and on his tongue. He sees what she’s looking at, closes his lips. The smile fades.

He breaks eye contact with her.

He takes a sip of well-water. Across the room, she does the same.

It tastes—

 ~~It fizzles in her mouth. It burns her gums; it makes her teeth ache and her head pound and she can feel it seeping into her nerves, her skin, her brain, her blood.~~

It tastes fine.


End file.
